Yoga Club and Other Under Things

It is 150 million degrees outside (or possibly just an actual 105, but it feels like the surface of the sun) and I miss fresh air and being outside but you can only survive in air conditioned environments right now and it's making me crabby. We were supposed to be in Colorado this week, but Landon's middle school orientation (ah!) ended up scheduled for yesterday and we couldn't make him miss that, so we squeezed in the 4th of July trip instead. And that was super fun, but we are definitely meant to be in the mountains right now. I'm escaping by doing an absurd amount of yoga, re-reading one of my favorite series (Psy-Changeling by Nalini Singh), and spending money. These three things combine into a potent form of therapy for me. (Maybe not as potent as actual therapy, but a nice complement anyway.)

Maggie CANNOT EVEN with this nonsense

So on that note, because you do not want me to continue whining about the heat (and I could! I could whine for SO MANY paragraphs), we'll kick it off with some yoga news! As of today, I have completed all sixty required yoga classes for my training! 60 classes!! 60 classes that I took in 7 weeks, all of which I journaled, and that I took in addition to my 9+ hours a week of late-night teacher training (70 hours total). It has been a crazy and intense journey since mid-June, but I have LOVED teacher training and will miss it so much when it's over next week.

Surprise very late night drinks with my TT crew

In celebration of completing my classes and getting a new action approved by the Commission (my 2nd this summer!), I bought myself a new yoga mat on Thursday.

It is the exact same as my old one (but in a beautiful steel new blue color!) which I bought three years ago, used several hundred times (500? give or take a few?), and didn't clean or otherwise take care of at all. It stewed in my car when it wasn't in a class and yet was always dry and nonsticky, non-smelly, sweat-absorbing and MAGICAL. I have used and borrowed many mats and this Lululemon one is BY FAR my favorite. But after 3 years of heavy use and non-maintenance, it was finally started to degrade the tiniest bit where my feet always hang out in down dog, and so now I have this new one to take 500 more classes on and I can't wait to start.

I also got my second Yoga Club box last week! Box 1 was blogged about here and I've continued to love and frequently wear every piece I received. Just as happened with Stitch Fix, I get slightly disappointed when I receive relatively simple items, and then I wear the heck out of them because I never buy simple items. That peach top? I've worn it at least twice a week, including one day at the state meet, and it goes with EVERYTHING- from workout clothes to regular street wear. Yoga Club knew I needed it.

So this round I was super excited to see what the bright pink box had in store for me.

And, crazy enough, it was a pair of Onzie leggings I already owned and LOVED, but that I'd purchased a size too small and therefore almost never wore. I could get them on, but they're high-waisted and just not comfortable when they're too tight and I hated passing them over and over again in my drawer. Yoga Club, which as far as I know has not seen the contents of my leggings drawer, somehow knew this and replaced them for me in the next size up with a whole outfit that cost less than the single pair of leggings had when I bought them. It's Yoga Club magic.

I also got a cute crop top and black layering tank.

I'm still not totally convinced I can wear a crop top, even in a one-hour hot yoga class where everyone is wearing leggings + bra, without being so self-conscious that I'm completely negating the purpose of yoga, though it is super cute with a pocket built into the Y part of the racerback that can fit my giant phone. If nothing else, I'll wear it frequently with the tank, particularly hiking and on long walks where I want my phone but need my hands.

I unabashedly love the blank tank and have worn it as many times as I've done wash since receiving it. I usually pair it with the navy blue bra from yoga club box #1 and my new better-fitting constellation leggings and I could not be happier.

The box was $74 including tax and shipping for all three items which add up to $185 before tax.

This continues to feel reasonable to me, particularly because I've paid the full $79 for Onzie leggings before (the exactly same ones even! and others, I like Onzie) and the joy of opening a box with items that are a genuine surprise is worth a few extra dollars even if I felt I were paying them (and I don't; the bra and tank are both also high quality and I've worn them multiple times in intense heated yoga classes). Knowing a box with a new fitness outfit will be coming in another month also keeps me from perusing my other favorite athletic-wear websites, so really I'm pretty sure it's saving me money. (And honestly I just love surprises and at my age/family position, gifts are so rarely a true surprise that opening that little box is a moment of pure Cora-level excitement.)

(As I explained in the last Yoga Club post, this link is a referral code that gets you $20 off your first box, and me $10 off my next. You take a style quiz with your sizes and preferences. I liked that you selected both your preferred types of items (capris v. full length leggings, loose v. fitted, short sleeve v. long sleeve, etc.) along with your preferred styles and patterns (you rank a bunch of different sample outfit collections). You choose whether you want a 2-piece or 3-piece outfit (I went three piece: bottoms, sports bra, and top) and how often you want to get a box delivered (you can cancel/pause/skip a shipment later). I'm a big fan of the two boxes I've received so far and have already signed up for my third in September.)

Maggie can't wait

In other shopping news, I was home early on Monday afternoon after taking Landon to the dentist (to fill two cavities! his first ever; not a fan of dental work, we're now very into flossing) and then staying with the girls while James took Landon to his 12-year check-up (super healthy! HPV-protected! finally moved up to the 70th percentile in height after growing 2.5 inches while gaining 0 lbs. in the last year; his doctor told him he needed to gain 5 lbs, and unlike when we try to talk to him about nutrition and the importance fueling your body, he actually listened, and is eating cashew butter from a spoon in the afternoons before swim practice), and saw an email from Soma.

I had unsubscribed from nearly all shopping emails a few months ago, but I had been complaining about the fact I have only one bra right now (that isn't comfortable and probably doesn't fit) and a friend told me I needed to go to Soma. It seemed pricey, so I signed up for the sale emails and forgot about it. Then Monday morning I got an email alerting me that it was National Underwear Day! And their underwear was 10 for $40 for one day only! Since individually they ran $11-13, I decided this was the opportunity I'd been waiting for. And their best selling bras were buy one get one half off! So off I drove to replace an entire drawer of my dresser.

I got measured for a new bra with some sort of digital magic (the bra I was currently wearing was off on both the band size and cup size, which was completely unsurprising) and the nice sales person brought me all their best sellers. I ended up with 12 new pairs of underwear (literally replacing the entirety of my drawer; not one old pair remain and it is SO GREAT) and four new bras: 2 every day (Embraceble Full Coverage Bra; in light nude and deep brown), 1 strapless (Embraceable Strapless Bra), and 1 super comfy wear-around-the-house under your old threadbare favorite shirt but still be able to open the door and/or hang out with your boy tween and it is the most comfortable thing I've ever put on (Enbliss Wireless Bralette). I got 10% off for being a new customer and so all of my bounty came home with me for $160. For replacing an entire drawer and gaining the certainty of knowing that anything I reach for will fit and be comfortable and supportive and exactly what I need, it seemed well worth it.

James happened to call while I was in the changing room and I had to warn him before he got too excited that these are NOT cute. These FIT and SUPPORT and omg I love them with my whole heart. They feel like a hug. An ugly hug that is meant just for me. (I still have a totally separate drawer full of the fun ones whose only purpose is to be removed. I like those too :).

(As always, I implore you not to forget your Ebates, now Rakuten, or other cashback shopping site. Soma had 10% cashback last week - 10%!! Just for doing your regular shopping. I can't stress enough how annoyed I am I didn't sign up for this sooner because I didn't understand it and thought it involved a credit card. It's literally just a link or browser plug-in that totals your cashback from all your online shopping and mails you a check each month. My lifetime total is just under $3,000 of extra cash, for my regular shopping.

So, comfortable, supportive underthings- who would have thought they'd be one of the highlights in a week full of them! Next week is yoga testing and our final week with the kids at home before school starts! Landon had middle school orientation Wednesday and schedule pick-up today (squee! I might be in the minority, but I adored middle school- such an exciting, precious time between being a kid and a teen/grown-up (or a teen who thinks they're a grown-up)) and everyone has Meet the Teacher night next week. Summer has been great, but school is also my favorite (and it's too freaking hot to be outside anyway; "feels like 110" today according to my weather app), so bring on the return to routine! My undercrackers and I are ready.